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LANDOVER, MD – It was a funny mood in the locker room Sunday after the Washington Redskins defeated the Houston Texans. In fact, they had lost twice – the match against the Texans by two points when a desperate goal on 63 yards ended in failure, and their quarterback, Alex Smith, with one broken leg at the end of the season. You've been covering professional sports for a quarter of a century, as some of us have some expectations for postgame locker rooms. Sunday, the wait was dark.
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The wait was not satisfied.
The Washington players said all that was best about poor Alex, his lost season and the next surgery on his badly injured leg. But the feeling that dominated their locker room was hunger, not horror. For every word uttered on Smith's injury, there were 10 people on the team's trust in the quarterback Colt McCoy. For every lament about lost opportunity Sunday, there were five enthusiastic references to this opportunity.
And the reason, dear reader, is clear and simple. Washington plays in the East of the NFC, where no one seems to come out, no one knows what will happen from one week to the next and most importantly, the season of this team is still at the day before.
"I'm ready, ready to go, I can not wait for Thursday," said cornerback Josh Norman.
Thursday, you see, the first place in the United States, Washington (6-4), goes to Dallas, where the Dallas Cowboys, who occupy the second place (5-5), now sit only one game backward. If Washington wins this match, the division chief returns to two games plus a tiebreaker face to face. The team could put everything away with a win in Philly 11 days later.
But if the Cowboys won on Thursday, everything would change. They would compete for first place with Washington, which sounds exciting until you realize that both teams will be 6 to 5 and, as usual, nothing in the NFC East would be out of reach for nobody.
Seriously, no matter who. That includes the reigning Super Bowl champions Philadelphia Eagles, who were completely putrid in New Orleans Sunday, a week after losing to Dallas. They have lost three of their last four and five in their last seven games and are 4-6, which means that for most teams in most divisions, it's time to start thinking about the off-season.
Which brings us to those Giants mentioned above, who have won two straight victories after their 1-7 start and are only one game worse than the Eagles, two behind Dallas and three behind Washington. If Dallas won Thursday and the Giants win in Philadelphia on Sunday, New York would have only two games on that first place and, on a three-game winning streak, will be at its best.
Does this mean that you should like the giants' chances? Absolutely not. They have already lost at home against Philadelphia and Washington and on the road to Dallas. Their last games outside the division are against Chicago, Tennessee and Indianapolis. Odell Beckham is technically right to say that they would be 9-7 if they did not lose again, but it's pretty far fetched. Even if the remaining teams in the Giants calendar do not scare you, it's important to remember that the Giants are not scary to anyone either. There is a difference between having an opportunity and being good enough to enjoy it.
And yet, there remains the ever-present potential of pure chaos. If you are a fan of NFC East, at least some of you are there for something. You must, because you have become so accustomed to it. You know that no one has been a champion of this division since 2003-2004 and you would be surprised if this year's Eagles put an end to this series. Unless a team like the 2017 Eagles or the 2016 Cowboys – and there's not one this year – the NFC East is a ripping and horribly heart wrenching newspaper flume up to the end.
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Ezekiel Elliott talks about the Cowboys' 22-19 win over the Falcons and turns to division rival Washington Redskins.
Turn it forward, it does not become clearer. Suppose Dallas and New York win next week, and then in week 13, the Eagles defeated the Redskins, Giants and Saints defeated the Cowboys – all possible results. Your NFC rankings would look like this:
Dallas 6-6
Washington 6-6
New York 5-7
Philadelphia cream 5-7
So let's say, at week 14, Philly wins in Dallas and New York wins in Washington. Again, not crazy. In three weeks, the NFC East would look like this:
Dallas 6-7
Washington 6-7
New York 6-7
Philadelphia cream 6-7
Do you take bets on how it goes?
The NFC East is at its best when it is the most chaotic. As December begins to become visible at the turn, it makes sense that we still do not know what to expect. Things could become much clearer Thursday in Dallas and Sunday in Philadelphia. But if you follow this division for a decade, it is more likely that the situation will be more confusing in the 12th week.
That's why the Washington players did not let themselves go to wallow or complain after Sunday's miserable day. They still have a division to win. And with 11 weeks of the 2018 season in the books, this race is just beginning.
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